Aug 04
Most people are familiar with the game of bingo. We tend to think of it as a leisurely game mostly played by seniors, and while this is often the case, it is also the case that variations of the standard game are also used in teaching – including in K-12 education and in English as a Foreign/Second Language (usually abbreviated to “EFL” or “ESL”) classes. Additionally, games of bingo can also be a fun activity for social and family events such as wedding showers, baby showers, and family gatherings at holidays such as July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
As you probably know, standard games of bingo are played using bingo worksheets (also known as “bingo cards”) containing a selection of numbers – the bingo players’ goal is to find matching squares as numbers are called out by the bingo caller. In educational and holiday versions of bingo however, the game play is varied somewhat – the squares can contain letters, words or phrases appropriate to the particular game – for example, in a game of Christmas bingo, the squares might contain words such as “Santa Claus”, “Christmas Tree”, and “Magi”. Likewise, in an educational game, the contents of the bingo worksheets will be based on the particular subject or lesson being taught – in a game of math bingo, the squares may contain numbers which are answers to math problems called out by the teacher, in a game of reading bingo, the squares might contain words chosen from the Dolch sight word list, and so on.
If you want to play one of these variants of bingo, the main requirement is of course a suitable set of bingo worksheets containing the appropriate items for your chosen theme. Preparing a different bingo worksheet for each player might sound like a lot of work, but actually it is not so hard – a computer and some bingo worksheet maker software can make the job quick and easy.
By: Sunil Tanna
Tagged with: Answers To Math Problems • Baby Showers • Bingo Caller • Bingo Cards • Bingo Game • Bingo Players • Christmas Bingo • Dolch Sight Word • Dolch Sight Word List • Educational Game • Esl Classes • Family Gatherings • Game Play • Games Bingo • Leisurely Game • Maker Software • Math Bingo • Santa Claus Christmas • Tanna • Wedding Showers
Jul 27
Bingo is a relatively simple game. Most adults know how to play the game, and it’s easy enough to learn that even young children can master the game in just a few minutes. Because of this simplicity, as well as the facts that the game does not require investing in expensive materials or specialist equipment, and that the game can easily be adapted in numerous ways, many teachers now use bingo as a teaching tool.
In classes involving younger children, teachers have adapted the game of bingo to help them with their reading and English. In these situations the class plays pretty much a standard game of bingo, with the teacher acting as the bingo caller, but instead of using bingo cards printed with numbers, the cards are printed with letters or words chosen by the teacher.
Some ideas for using bingo in the classroom include:
* Helping to Teach Phonemic Awareness – The students are each given a bingo card printed with letters in the squares. When the teacher calls out a word, the students must identify the letter than begins the word and find the matching square.
* Practising Sight Words – Sight words are words that students must learn to recognize to achieve reading fluency (the most famous list of sight words, is probably the Dolch Sight Word list). Sight words can be practised by using bingo cards printed them – students must find the matching square when the teacher calls out the word.
* Improving Vocabulary – Again the bingo cards are printed with words chosen by the teacher, in this case however students must find the matching square when the teacher gives a word’s definition.
* Identifying Parts of Speech – As with the vocabulary bingo game, the cards are printed with words chosen by teacher. However, in this case, students must find a part of speech based on a description given by teacher, for example, “a verb beginning with S”.
In all these cases, the main requirements to play the game are an enthusiastic teacher, and of course bingo cards printed with items of the teacher’s choice. While it may be possible to purchase some preprinted educational bingo cards, this could quickly get expensive if a lot of bingo cards are needed, and in any case the cards may not contain the exact items that the teacher wants for their class. The alternative is for the teacher to prepare the bingo cards in advance of their class. Of course, making a lot of bingo cards by hand is probably not a good use of class preparation time – but fortunately bingo card maker software can automate the process – using such software, you just enter a list of items that you want on your bingo cards, and the computer can generate as many cards as you want.
By: Sunil Tanna
Tagged with: Bingo • Bingo Caller • Bingo Card • Bingo Cards • Bingo Game • Case Students • Dolch Sight Word • Dolch Sight Word List • List Of Sight Words • Part Of Speech • Parts Of Speech • Phonemic Awareness • Reading Fluency • Simple Game • Simplicity • Specialist Equipment • Squares • Teache • Teaching Tool • Vocabulary Bingo
Jul 14
I think it would be fair to say that most adults know how to play the game of bingo. This is no doubt because of the widespread popularity of the game, and the fact that the game is very easy to learn. What you may not know, is that bingo, and variations of the game of bingo are proving to be increasingly popular in educational and learning situations.
Nobody would deny that one of the challenges faced by teachers is how to get their students to engage with the subject being taught. Enjoyable classroom activities such as bingo, can be of help with this problem. Of course, an enjoyable activity serves little purpose unless it helps teach the subject – but the good news is that bingo can be adapted to teaching a variety of different school subjects.
The key step in adapting bingo to classroom use, is the introduction of custom bingo cards. As you know, in the standard game of bingo, the bingo cards are simply printed with a set of numbers. In classroom versions of the game, the cards are instead printed with words, phrase, math problems or even musical symbols (depending on the subject being taught), of the teacher’s choice. Additionally, if the teacher chooses to, he or she may also modify the rules of the game slightly. Some examples of educational bingo applications might include:
* Sight word bingo – Used in introductory reading classes: The bingo cards are printed with words that the students simply have to find (often words from the Dolch Sight Word list, or simply lists).
* Vocabulary bingo – Used in language classes: The bingo cards are printed with French, German, Italian or Spanish words, and the students must find the matching word when the teacher calls out an English word.
* Math bingo – The bingo cards are printed with math problems that the students must not only find, but also solve.
By: Sunil Tanna
Tagged with: Bingo Cards • Classroom Versions • Dolch Sight Word • Dolch Sight Word List • Introductory Reading • Language Classes • Learning Situations • Little Purpose • Math Bingo • Math Problems • Musical Symbols • No Doubt • Reading Classes • Rules Of The Game • School Subjects • Set Of Numbers • Spanish Words • Tanna • Vocabulary Bingo • Word Math
